News - Soap Buzz

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May 7th, 2012
Oprah Winfrey’s Cable Channel has Staggering Losses of Over $330 Million Dollars!

Courtesy/HarpoProds

Bad news for Oprah! Her cable network vision and dream, OWN, has been handed devastating financial numbers, according to a piece out from the New York Post!

According to the NY Post: “The losses at Oprah Winfrey’s stumbling cable channel are approaching a staggering $330 million, according to a report over the weekend. And now industry insiders are predicting the Oprah Winfrey Network will not be able to survive another year if it does not find a hit show and make a dramatic turnaround. Discovery, which partnered 50-50 with Winfrey to launch the network and has been underwriting its costs, has invested nearly $600 million in it since 2008, according to an extensive report in Business Week magazine.” David Zaslav, the chief executive officer of Discovery Communications who talked Oprah into the idea of OWN, is famously impatient with money-losing operations within his company. “I really can’t see Zaslav losing this kind of money for much longer,” one longtime business associate said last week.

As for Winfrey, She appeared before major advertisers two week ago to ask for more time! “I am in the climb of my life,” she told them. “I am climbing Kilimanjaro.” Though Winfrey herself has relatively little money invested in the channel, her image as the most successful TV star of her generation is on the line.

So what type of programming do you think could save OWN? Do you think the inspirational channel’s message is a tune-out for most viewers? Was it a mistake for Oprah to leave her daytime talk series after 25 years? And on that note, who would you rather see, Oprah or Katie?

Your right robert in jersey city, Turn her dopy network into a soap bubble channel, Produce new ones, bring back the many soaps that have been cancelled, Starting with one life to live, and put the emmys on. Hopefully its not to late .

Carol replied May 12th, 2012 at 7:04 pm

I agree. She should have. They people would have paid the extra $30 (in some areas) to get her channel. More viewers, more revenue.

Marcia White replied May 7th, 2012 at 10:38 pm

She quickly turned down helping to bail out the soaps that she claimed to love – AMC and OLTL, since she didn’t think she could make money on them. Look at the junk she has on her network – reality shows (whose reality???), her friend Gayle seems to be guaranteed a job wherever Oprah goes. The article says O has little of her own money invested…why not kick some cash in, give our soaps another chance. After Oprah turned them down, I have little interest in her network.

Yes when Oprah turned her back on soapfans we realized Oprah was a heartless person. The TV program only had her name and was run by the real caring people behind the scenes. Who does she think was watching when her show followed GH ?

Welcome to Sweetie Pies and Are You Normal what is she thinking? She lost all her fans that needed her to save our soaps so now she is going down fast-now she thinks these 2 stupid shows one reality(really) and a game show(o please) is going to save her-thats not gonea happen NO ONE WANTS ANOTHER GAME OR REALITY SHOW WAKE UP OPRAH WE WANT OUR STORIES

Hmmm Oprah or Katie how about neither! They all told us soaps were dead you know that we would like to watch Oprah talk to a man who was married to a woman with two heads! How about this, lets sit down and tune into ATWT,AMC,OLTL,Guiding Light,and Another World. What do you think?

At this point, I am not sure what can save OWN, but putting AMC and OLTL on her Network certainly could not have hurt, and could have possibly helped by bringing in new viewers. I am sure if you ask people what channel OWN is on their cable networks, a majority of them will not know.

hello michael fairman i have written you many times about oprah winfrey. put all my children and one life to live on own. but oprah winfrey did say no to the soap operas. now she is desperate. please oprah i am giving you one more chance. put the soaps on your network and you will see your ratings going up and up. if you don’t listen to us your network is cancelled.

This is, as Carolyn Hinsey says, “Only My Opinion”, but I think Oprah would be much more successful if she added more variety to her programming.

Most of Oprah’s shows are some sort of reality/life/talk show, which doesn’t really appeal to everyone. And the other shows she has (the crime/murder documentaries) can easily be found on other channels (I.D/Bio).

I think what she needs is one show of each genre like PBS and affiliates do. Put in an hour of news, an hour of drama (I don’t really care if it’s a soap or not), an hour of comedy (could be a sitcom or a stand-up routine like “Live At The Apollo” does; just as long as its not a dumbed-down type show). Put in an hour of reality as well (PBS does). And heck, maybe even add an hour of classic shows. Do a Friday night movie or something (and pick a movie that appeals to all). I could go on but I think the general idea has been made.

Now I could be wrong. They could go with these suggestions and the channel could still wind up tanking in the end. But I think that these suggestions could really help with the ratings. As Carolyn Hinsey says, “It’s Only My Opinion”.

Well anyone that thnks people wants to see lifestyle shows non stop is nuts.Looks like these other networks would see this to.Look at ABC and NBC they seem to think that is what daytime should be,Talk,lifestyle and cooking.More and more cable channels are going into scripted shows.Looks like these nitwits would see dime a dozen talk,reality and cooking shows or over and everyone is tired of them.She needs some soaps to draw attention to her network.ABC soapers are lost without there soaps and would be more then grateful to watch Own if they where there.She needs to see her vision is as bad as ABC.s.

Perhaps Oprah should have produced All My Children and One Life to Live, instead of alienating millions of daytime fans by refusing to do so. Those same fans who watched her show for years — and she simply kicked them to the curb. I have never watched OWN and I am disgusted with the huge amount of money invested in her network — only to have it fail. Shame, shame.

I couldn’t have said it better, Sadie. What a waste of financial resources by OWN not backing the soaps. What viewer loyalty exists on any one show on her network these days? Only the soaps have loyal viewers.

Gee, I wonder what programming could possibly save the troubled OWN network? HMMM, let me see…..(scratching my head). Sounds like she should have taken another look at the soaps. I know AMC & OLTL alone could not save her network, but its a good start. Building programming around those shows would have worked out so much better for her, than all those self-help programs that she’s pumping out on OWN. She really should have stuck to the format of talk shows or news in the morning, then soaps following those programs, then her reality and self-help programs following that…..that way you build an audience from a little bit of the new and a little bit of the familiar. I don’t know why she couldn’t figure that out. Losing almost half a billion dollars is not a good sign for her. And I have a feeling that things would have turned out much differently for her, had she not abruptly turned her back on the daytime viewing audience that made her who she is today.

If only she said yes to saving AMC and OLTL. Sure it would have been a big initial cost but she would have gained a very large audience. She also could have made deals with corporations for product placement on the soaps. Bad decision on her part.

Wow, those are some big losses! As a soap fan, I can`t help but feel that Oprah made a huge mistake not bringing on the cancelled soaps onto her network. She would have had a built in audience of millions and would have been proclaimed a heroine for doing it! Maybe it`s not too late to go that route? Wouldn`t that be wonderful?!?!

Seems this cable net was launched without much forethought. Not even mentioning the availability and such on systems, the programming menu is odd. There is nothing that stands out. And not even a larger-than-life personality is enough here. Where are the solid unique off-broadcast reruns (other than those of her “progeny?”? Are there scripted series in development? I wonder if the refusal to pick up daytime dramas may have been a lost opportunity. Has she reached out to the men’s audience? There is no event programming or appointment programming to get me to own OWN. Find what’s missing and fill the void with something successful. I for one am done with reality and weak competition shows, and banal talkers.

No forethought and planning seems right. Oprah probably assumed OWN would be a success based on her past successes and because Discovery offered to invest. Employing her friends, without network experience, probably didn’t help either.

Oprah turned down producing soaps because she thought scripted series were too expensive to produce, but compared to what OWN has lost, this was a mistake. One daily soap would have brought at least a couple of million viewers to her channel everyday, which she desperately needs.

There is no viable programming she can develop and implement fast enough to reverse these monetary losses and generate revenue. Oprah reached her level of incompetence and is going dOWN.

Serves her right, she could have saved a soap or two, picked up 2.5 million new viewers and sailed into financial stability with het network, she didnt and now she is paying the price for a stupid decision. Soaps could be her lifeline!

What kind of programming do I think could have saved own? Certainly none of the garbage she has on now, I think she should have tried to save One of the soaps, One life to live, I dont think all my children was all that good even though I did watch it every day for as long as it was on, Having that rosey show was another mistake, And that inspirational crap forget it. I think she should have stayed on her talk show that was a sure bet for her, I think she let a lot of things go to her head, I never watched it. If I have a choice of which talk show I would watch, oprah or katie, neither of these women would get my vote there a waste of time. I’m not saying the soaps would have helped oprah get good ratings but a lot of all my children and one life to live fans would have tuned in and possibly watch her other shows.Looks like oprah is not a very good business women and like abc/disney she should have paid attention to the fans. Then again who knows the rat channel would never give up the rights to the soaps,Maybe oprah should quit before she goes deeper in debt or put some quality programming on. Stay away from Talk, food, Inspirational, rosey, bad writers, and self help garbage.People can tune into abc for that nonsense.

It was hubris to think Oprah could develop and run a network based on the success of her one talk show. It’s interesting Oprah has little of her own money invested in her OWN channel. She’s been playing with the investments of others and apparently has little to lose herself. Oprah has consistently lost money with inexpensive reality programming and she has no money to produce quality fictional drama. OWN is finished.

Yes, it was a mistake for Oprah to cancel her daytime talk show, if she wanted a steady source of income, but she couldn’t have taken on developing OWN otherwise. I don’t care about either Oprah or Katie. Celebrity interviews don’t appeal to me. Talk is cheap.

1love said to Heather:
That statement of David’s was really sad. If that’s the David I know (from on here) he needs to be ashame of himself. I’m in shock and surprised bc my David accesses fair judgement- I dont believe its the same David. No way!

Heather replied May 24th, 2012 at 11:39 pm:
This David is not the same as the one we’re used to. This David sign his name as “DAVID” whereas our David sign his name as “david”.

To david: I didn’t think it was you, ‘our david ‘ as I stated. You see (above) I wrote, nah….! I also mentioned in my post, that you usually render with fair judgement. When you get to know people on this site, the way they talk and think about things, you almost feel that you know them, and question if they are out of character. I know you speak ‘ too’ intellectual for this kind of talk that DAVID said. lol

If Oprah wants viewers, might I suggest (again) OLTL, AMC, GH, GL, OLTL, should I go on, or do you catch my drift? Oprah had a chance to save AMC and OLTL and she said they were money losing dogs. I have loved Oprah for many years, but after her dismissal of soap fans, I’m lost interest in her and her network. And I am only one of millions who feel this way. Oprah, can you hear me now??

Hey Ms. Winfrey, You should have gone with All My Children and One Life to Live. They had a built in audience and they would have brought the revenue you need. Your message to us was cold. You told us everything has its time. Well…………… I don’t wish failure on anyone, but sometimes karma comes back to bite.

It was a mistake to insult her millions of daytime fans with her youtube video bashing the soap genre. And it is a mistake that she has yet to rectify by apologizing for her harsh comments. Daytime and soap fans have very long memories!!!

im sure there not many giving you any sympathy Oprah. Today @ work we chatted bout your station n its lackluster….IF YOU HAD GRABBED THE SOAPS FROM ABC…YOUD HAVE MORE POSITIVE RATINGS THAN YOU COULD IMAGINE AND THE BEST ADVERTISERS FLOCKING TO YOUR PLACE! ALAS YOU SAID YOU WOULDNT …THERE YA HAVE IT…PROOF IS IN THE “SOAPS YOU USE N THOSE YOU WONT” SOAPS NOT DOPES!!!!!

I like Oprah. I really do. But, this news does make me feel a little better about her “Soaps just don’t make money any more so I can’t put them on my channel” stance. Perhaps she wasn’t the best judge of programing?

WAH WAH WAH!!!! Oh, Oprah. In case you didn’t understand us for the first year of the Save Our Soaps movement, when it comes to what we, the American people want, we are never, ever, EVER, backing down from a fight! Remember that before you go crawling to the nearest network that hasn’t felt the blunt force of our actions.

I tried to watch OWN once or twice and it was really horrid. I am wondering with the numbers ($$) listed above, if the soaps would not have been a better investment. But it seems that ship has sailed, and I don’t wish Oprah any ill will, but I do wonder if she wishes she had handled the soap situation differently.

I think that if Oprah would pick up AMC and OLTL it has a very good chance to turn itself around, Like we told Oprah in the beginning when all this started over a year ago pick up these 2 soaps and you will have an instant fan base of millions but she choose to turn her back on us and what she got was KARMA.

Oprah had a chance to add million of viewers to her new Network if she would have stuck by her daytime viewers and pickup either All My Children or One Life to Live OR Both. Soap fan have long memories and will not forget how Oprah talked that the Soap genre was a time that had passed. I forgot one will never not get that Oprah had a chance to save our beloved shows and she chose not too.

I would rather see Orah is she did the right thing, but I have lost respest for her. Maybe she should try rebroasting of classic soaps and see if that helps. Then she can put her foot in her mouth and take on one of the two cancelled ABC soaps and bring it back into production. I thinkg she would see a dramatic change.

You’d think ABC would take a lesson from owns failure.People want good scrpited shows not junk talk reality. cooking a nd lifestyle.I have seen only one network keeping there full line up of soaps and tht is CBS and keeping scripted shows like soaps keep people coming back.You then see there nighttime lineup and are more likely to watch.ABC needs to get rid of there stupis dictator and take a new look at what Own has done.Get the soaps Oprah we’ll come.

Bet the soap opera idea isn’t looking so beneath you now, now is it? Get in touch with Prospect Park and ask to buy the AMC and OLTL rights from them.

To answer your questions Michael, it wasn’t a mistake for Oprah to leave after 25 years. I can understand her wanting to move on and evolve through new projects. I don’t even think her programs or their messages were the problem either. Building an audience is tough; we’re a HUGE variable and a big name associated doesn’t equate success. Casting Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp in a movie, two of the biggest stars in the world, didn’t make a successful film. She tried, and IMO she made good moves (most of them anyway). Sometimes things don’t work out. Call it a learning experience and move on to the next thing.

Frankly, my thoughts are that any entity or person who ignores the people is doomed to fail. Oprah ignored the please of soap fans to rescue our soaps and chose to go a different way. ABC/Disney cut us off at the pass and is now finding it to be a poor decision. WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND. I personally don’t want to see eiother of them, what I want is for someone to STAND UP TO BIG MONEY and listen to the PEOPLE who put them where they are, fat wallets and all! Give us our soaps back and see how quick things turn around!

Hi Ettel: Found you here near, and commenting to one of my other favorites on this site, Heather. I wrote her a hello message yesterday. Been busy, very and out of comission. Logged on yesterday to say Hi to Barbara t, and before signng off last night, ran into the firestorm of the contstant GH vs. OLTL, posted: May 20, 2012 RATINGS: GH Continues to Gain! #1 in Key 18-34 Demo! I took part in the one on here on May 7th, BUT the May 20th debate, I didn’t take part in. It was a find…. on my part, lol. And yes, I did leave a comment or two. Thing is, I had just sent off my hello message to Barbara t and speaking with her about tme getting tired of the same ole sore debate, GH vs. OneLife, that finds complete strangers on here argrueing like its no bodies business. And then I go to log off, and read how GH is doing in the ratings on May 20th. I see peoples post, and instead of going to bed as I should, I went anf popped me some pop corn, and had a Dr. Pepper, and read post for an hour in a half. Even the sheriff had to come on board, Michael, and tell folk to chill out. Well Ethel, some things never change on here. LOL Susan Lucci been getting some bad press on here, because she said, ” the numbers just weren’t there anymore”. Perhaps that is the truth. A shame when U become a blazz for speaking the truth. Now all of a sudden (because of her comment) people realize just how much Susan is all about Susan. It should not take a comment about Susan speaking the facts to get people to see that Susan and Erica are one in the same. It’s the same with Oprah, they loved her before she said what she said about the endings of the soaps. Now she is mud, and whatever she once did, means nothing. People have to have more objectabilty, NOT objectibility on here. Hey, did you see (below) what David wrote about Oprah in two places, stroll down. Both Barbara t and I comment. That’s not
” our ” David, right? U know, our David, whom we post in Feb, regarding Susan being in the Gloria Estafan video? Nah.

Let me know.

1lovebcsoaps replied May 24th, 2012 at 10:42 pm

EDIT: People have to have more OBJECTIBILITY, not SUBJECTIBILITY on here.

That really bites. I love her Lifeclass shows, especially with Iyanla Vanzant! And Iyanla has a talk show coming on next month, I can’t wait for that! She is so amazing, and I don’t want her to lose it because of this mess!

I’d rather watch Oprah over Katie (there will literally have to be “snow” on every other channel) Also maybe if Oprah would get somew new shows with new subject matter instead of the junk on now more people would be willing to watch. Throw in the soaps and she may have a soild business plan. Why watch a channel if you can get the same stuff else where?

If Oprah is as smart as she seems….bringing OLTL & AMC to her network would help out immensely. Millions of fans would tune in to OWN each & every day. After all, 40 plus years of fans watching these programs is not a bad thing. Oprah could be oue soap fans hero. We all are still wating for someone!!

She should have picked up the soaps! She would have gained millions of loyal viewers who may have watched some of her other shows! I cancelled my cable last fall, I watch everything online now! Cable is over and it looks Like Oprah is too! I would rather watch paint dry than watch Katie, but I don’t watch anything on abc since the cancellations except General Hospital, so it is a moot point!

The queen of daytime talk has had her time. She took to her own ‘OWN’ and many viewers didn’t follow her. Why…b/c her viewers were soap fans and her lead in for her talk show. And when she tured her back on soaps fans..they in turn turned their back on her.
She has so many repeats on.
Discovery should take their money and run..there is nothing Oprah can do.

If I had to chose neither one………..I don’t care for neither one of them………..Oprah needs a hit show….Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm , what could that be???? And she refused it 4 months ago!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She said she could save them…And what was that soap lover’s?????????? She made her bed now she has to sleep in it !!!!!!!!!! Oprah has nothing of interest on her own channel…………..She doesn’t spend her money wisely…..She should have taken a chance on AMC & OLTL… That was her first BIG MISTAKE of the century……Bad buisness choice.. And now look where she is….It’s a shame she could have taken it to the bank!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don’t want Katie couric on daytime prog.

I am just stating a fact…If Oprah had picked up the soaps she would have had a lot of viewers & her cable station would be in much better shape…And I am not bashing her for it…Again, just stating the facts………….Maybe she is having second thoughts on that subject????? Oprah should………..Yes her cable channel could have been a big hit but, she chose not to do it….This could put her back on the charts…………………….This would turn her cable station to a comlete one eighty……………………………….. Yes it was her deceision and a bad one at that…. She could have had it all with the soaps on her cable channel… This would have crippled all the other cable channels…Oprah’s channel could have been #1…Now it is down to rock bottom………………There is a solution to her dilemma but she won’t do it…She simply refuses to do it or even consider the idea… Again just stating the facts… And I am not bashing her by no means…

There’s just not an incentive for most viewers to tune in. I watched the Shania and Fergie reality shows, but those both ended and nothing else on there has interested me. Oprah has had several PR gaffes over the past five-six years and, let’s face it–she just isn’t as popular as she once was.

She should not have dissed the loyal AMC & OLTL fans, if she has purchased the rights to those two soaps, she would not be floundering. I lost all respect for her after she insulted the soap viewers by not addressing our requests and by her crummy video message to the fans. I do not watch OWN and never will unless she get our soaps.

What can I say, She should of saved our soaps AMC and OLTL and her OWN network would of been hauling in the ratings hand over fist, and saving many jobs for alot of people.
But it didn’t work out that way and she let it be known what she felt about the Soap Opera genue. So she is in dire straits at this point. Hope she had a nest egg…

If OWN had shows that people would want to watch like AMC and OLTL then i dont think Oprah would be in control of a dying TV Network.Both of the Soap Operas that ABC cancelled had a lot more viewers then 90% of the shows currently on OWN.

Adios to OWN because if Oprah would have picked up both AMC and OLTL the network that she is in charge of would be in a much better shape money wise.Both AMC and OLTL had much better ratings then every show on OWN that Oprah wasnt in.

I think it costs extra to have the OWN network from the basic cable package, so I would assume in this economy people just do not want to pay more when there are so many options available to watch that you do not have to pay more for. Also, I have heard that there is not anything so innovative or different that would make you want to pay more for. It is more of the same types of shows you would see on the regular network or cable, but perhaps, I am wrong. Please know I love Oprah, I am so impressed with all that she has done, and admire her so much. Perhaps, if there were not this additional cost, or the cost for the cable package that includes OWN were not so high more people would watch it, but I may not have the correct information about the cost.

You are right about the additional cost to subscribe to her channel, but without any compelling programming, most people were never interested. Oprah needed one or two popular shows to hook people into paying.

If she had produced one soap, she would have had at least five times as many daily viewers as she has now. Broadcast networks may not need soaps to be profitable, but OWN needed soaps just to survive and attract viewers. Oprah didn’t have the vision and business savvy to realize this. She’s lost so much money that now it’s too late.

OPRAH, before it’s toooooo late, START picking up the soaps. U should have done it from day one. I thought with the announcement of the cancellations of the soaps, that it was Perfect time for you and….Gravy, ( YOU being at the RIGHT place at the right time once again). Only this time, U made the WRONG CALL. Ur judgement wasn’t clear. For your network (which was already struggling one year BEFORE you stepped into the thrown) the Soaps would of been you Gravy Train round about now. Loses wouldn’t be no where amounting to 300 million. U could of even picked up Soaps Net, and did some reality Soap shows, and your reality shows may have flourished more because people would see that advertisements, and give it a try, OR just stay on the channel because of habit. This time Oprah, U made the wrong call, and I respect it, and Heather and I have supported your decision which we STILL do. But being a supporter of someone, doesn’t mean U can’t support them/ their decision, BUT also tell them they made a mistake.

Footnote: Just because we don’t agree with a persons decision, we don’t have to bash them either….

Oprah, I don’t know if it’s too late, but start assembling a mini, OLTL, and incorporate AMC characters until U have enough character back to branch off… and create both soaps in full.

Gosh Micheal, do U ever send Oprah these posts OR anyone from her camp?

look at all these posts about soaps….we dumped Oprah when she dumped us… now look at the losses! see? we do have an impact. we do.

she should make a new and better SoapNet.

she helps us, we help her.

Blake replied May 7th, 2012 at 10:50 pm

I thought it was funny earlier when I didn’t see any responses and I thought how strange, and then I come back just a couple hours later and it says there are over 70 comments and i’m like whoa!

I forgot how Oprah said she wasn’t picking up the cancelled soaps, saying they don’t have the viewers anymore. Well it seems she really ticked off a LOT of people and it backfired.

It sucks cause I think she has good intention with shows trying to better people, but there really needs to be more entertaining shows. I don’t know if they could afford to pick up the soaps now that they have such huge losses now.

barbara t replied May 8th, 2012 at 5:54 am

Michael, This is a good Idea go ahead and do it, Let her know how she disappointed a lot of soap fans with her decision to snub us and the soaps. Or you can invite her to your sight to have a good read. One way or the other she should know how we all feel. She did lose a lot of fans the day she turned her back on the soaps the very shows that made her who she is today, or who she was.

Susan M. replied May 8th, 2012 at 9:45 am

Oprah should know about this & how all the soap fans feel and their comments on this subject………….

sadie soaper replied May 8th, 2012 at 10:27 am

Michael, I think you definitely should pass these comments along to Oprah. Perhaps she will see the light and invest in bringing back the soaps. I understand that the Discovery Channel was all for producing the soaps a while ago, but she declined. I think that a smart woman like Oprah will see that bringing the soaps back into production will be a solid, positive business decision and will make money instead of hemorrhaging money. Thank you.

sadie soaper replied May 8th, 2012 at 10:29 am

Michael, if you do pass these comments on to Oprah, will you please let us know via this post? Thanks!

Gloria E replied May 8th, 2012 at 12:13 pm

Please Michael, it’s not too late for Oprah to say she was wrong…I wonder if she has ever aquired a taste for humble pie!! Her response to soap fans was so condescending..when we asked her to pick up the soaps..pass on to her..

1lovebcsoaps replied May 24th, 2012 at 7:53 am

Yes, I believe they should.

Thank you. : )

Heather replied May 8th, 2012 at 9:27 am

Even if Michael sent theses posts to Oprah and her camp, it wouldn’t make a difference. Way too many Oprah-bashing posts on here.

When someone is struggling, the last thing they want to hear is people blaming them or making fun of them. This is what as basically happened on this page.

Oprah is not struggling, her network is. I do think she should know how people feel just like we let abc/disney know where we stand, Thats what happens when you go public and make comments and in oprahs case stabbed the soap fans that stuck with her for 25 years, Its a fact she lost a lot of fans because of her feelings about the soaps, Even if she didn’t want the soaps on her network, How she dismissed the fans was low, she should have helped us in our fight to save the soaps now its to late.

Heather replied May 8th, 2012 at 7:45 pm

I understand your point barbara t. But as long as we soap opera fans stay aggressive and use foul language towards ABC, the media mainstream will never take us seriously. Like any other movement, if we want to gain credibility towards the general public, then we have to act assertive, but remain polite. Name-calling ABC is not going to bring us anywhere.

When GH was renewed, the first thing I did was to write a letter to ABC to thank them about their decision and to let them know that I was looking forward to watch GH for many more years. Do I really think that ABC deserved such a gratitude letter? Absolutely not. Not after the atrocities they did last year. Nevertheless, I felt that I needed to let the network know that I appreciated their decision to keep GH. It’s these little things that can make a difference. Letting a network know that you care about your show and that you want to see it on the air for many years. But you can only do this for a show that hasn’t been cancelled yet. If a show has already been cancelled, it’s too late.

barbara t replied May 9th, 2012 at 6:15 am

Heather, I also agree with what you are saying , The first thing I did when general hospital was renewed was do my daily e mail to abc/disney and told them thank you for renewing gh. Not once have I ever sent them a email, and I do it 3 times a day, have I swore or be rude in any of my letters and the same goes to oprah. But I do let them know how disappointed I am in them and I do believe the shows that replaced the soaps are garbage and will never have the following as the soaps did and I was right about the revolution,it was gone in a few months. However, I don’t trust abc/disney not any more this can be another delay tactic to keep the fans quite. if they were going to keep gh long term, longer then 1 year I would have dropped the subject to them and only continue my fight to get one life to live and all my children back, and sadly ever day that goes by makes me realize that my soaps are gone for good, But as we all know since abc canceled one life to live and all my children the year went by very quickly, so running out of time scares me. every day I sent my emails to abc, Oprah I have sent her only 2 e mails, the first about her taking the soaps and the second for her to put the emmys on her network, Take my word for it there were a lot of please and thank yous never any disrespect, I have learned along time ago if your nice you may end up getting a lot more in return.

1lovebcsoaps replied May 24th, 2012 at 8:14 am

Hey Heather: Long time. I see you are keeping up the good fight of balance on here. Oprah bashing verses not Oprah bashing, and naturally, AND alwaz the OLTL verses GH debate, which both issues you and I agree on whole heartedly. Did you notice above: 1loveabcsoaps says: May 7, 2012 at 7:16 pm, that I even mentioned you in my post?

Did you see below what DAVID wrote on May 7, 2012 at 8:52 pm

” WHITE WOMEN TURNED ON HER AND IT SERVES HER SELLOUT ASS RIGHT. ”

“OWN STAND FOR( ONLY WHITEWOMEN NETWORK) ”

I replied to it, ” Wow! I’m in shock of this comment. This is a bit too much…. bordering rascist. ” Barbara t thought it was funny, and I replied to her it was horrible. It’s bordering rascist, and I’m surprised Michael didn’t say anythng. Maybe he didn’t catch it. Here once again, when people don’t agree, like babies or immature adolescent they start on the attacks, rather than defending their view maturely. That statement of David’s was really sad. If that’s the David I know (from on here) he needs to be ashame of himself. I’m in shock and surprised bc my David accesses fair judgement- I dont believe its the same David. No way! Keep up the good fight Heather. : ) Hey, you heard from Deb ?

Heather replied May 24th, 2012 at 11:39 pm

1loveabcsoaps

If you’re referring to the one signing as “Debi” who is a devout fan of GH, the last I heard of her was this past Monday on the thread that dealt about Good Morning America.

This David is not the same as the one we’re used to. This David sign his name as “DAVID” whereas our David sign his name as “david”.

I doubt that Michael Fairman read all the comments posted here. He probably just read them between the lines to filter posts coming from anti-soapers who would want to cause disruption on this site. But otherwise, I don’t think that Michael read the comments except for a few random ones here and there. It would be way too time consuming.

Susan M. replied May 8th, 2012 at 9:48 am

Yes Oprah did lose a lot of soap fans by refusing not to put the soaps on her cable channel…She needs to know…………………..

Oprah is averaging 330,000 viewers per week.. If she had taken on AMC and/or OLTL her viewship would have gone up siginficantly. ( average 2 million viwers). Alas, she said that the soap opera genre was finished well I guess that the publics’ enthusiasm for her is over.

I’ve never liked Oprah. You couldn’t pay me to watch her. But…if she had taken on our soaps, I would have given her my viewership and my loyalty. I’m sure that’s the case with many people. It’s her OWN fault if the network tanks. She should’ve realized that her brand of TV is not what people want in this day and age. We told her what we wanted, and she blew us off. That’s her loss.

She could have had all the soap fans. We helped her rise to the top years ago. I guess she thought she didnt need us to support her cable channel. So what was that she said about no money to be made from the soaps??? Seems to me it would have been a wise investment.

An over-riding theme of many of the comments above seems to be karma, and aint it a b-*ch! Oprah really offended me with her snub of taking on AMC and/or OLTL. It wasn’t so much her decision (though I was really disappointed in it) as it was her condesending delivery of it. Who’s just not worth it now? Okay, I’m being snippy, but I don’t think anything short of a miracle will save OWN. When any network started they always lost a ton of money…for years and years. No one has any patience any more to wait for a network to succeed. Even if Oprah took on our beloved soaps, we, the fans, would have to religously watched and support them in every way possible. (Thanking the sponsors, saying we’re buying their products because they sponsor the show, writing to thnak the network, getting friends to watch and flooding the media with how great it is, etc.) The shows were expensive to produce. Could they have worked out some sort of deal to reduce costs and give us the shows we’ve always loved? One could hope so. Could you image a show where Victoria Lord Buchanan crossed paths with Erica Kane or Reva Shanye Lewis? I’d pay big money to see a soap movie that mixed it up with our favorite shows…But I regress. IF, and that’s a BIG “if”, Oprah were to pick up one of our cancelled soaps, I think she’d gain an H of a lot of viewers. However, I think she’d also have to revamp her lineup to get more viewers to stay tuned after our soaps were over. Just sayin’…

Oprah did have a lot of white women watching her show, putting that aside I really don’t believe david was being racist And neither was I, I hope you didn’t mean that when you wrote that’s horrible to me. I care for all people black, white, gay, straight, Even the one life to live haters. You want to talk about attacking someone did you read what I went through at go to news soap buzz go to page 2 Ratings gh continues to gain#1 in key 18 to 34 demo, Michael had to say a few words about it I called out someone claiming to have a husband with d.i.d she reamed me out and called me a few choice words, Talk about hate. Go read it. But seriously, I am not racist, Boy I am getting into a lot of trouble this week.

i totally agree with you – but when i read posts like that i usually don’t even comment because it then becomes an all out nasty war that i don’t want any part of…………
you know me, my posts are short & sweet – i say what i mean & i mean what i say………lmbo
♥

ethel replied May 25th, 2012 at 3:26 am

i forgot to say i am sick to death of the oltl vs gh war – while they are all over the web fighting, i am sitting back enjoying the last abc soap…………..

It seems like she needs help desperately, doesn’t it. And yet, the answer is so simple. Unfortunately, many great people fail for the same reason they became great in the first place-stubbornness. I’m not naive enough to say that AMC/OLTL would have saved OWN, but they certainly would have given it a foothold…

I have always been an Oprah fan until she turned up her nose at our soaps. That is where she messed up. I like a lot of other people turned OWN off. We soap fans begged her to help. She more or less said as Fron said throw out the trash. Well some soaps are off for now but we want give up. Oprah take a chance on our soaps. 7,000,000+ fans s will follower.I”ve never really watched Katie But if between them I would watch Katie now. My Oprah is hiding somewhere. If she ever returns I’ll tune back in.

Reading these posts makes me realize how soaps really did help lead in for Oprah’s talk show. I remember she came on after my Guiding Light went off. And I remember how she had many shows that had soap stars on it. Not only Oprah, but I remember so did Maury Povich, in fact his show had a soap awards show called MVP each year for quite a while.

And it is sad that Oprah said that soaps don’t have the ratings and viewers that it used to. Um, OLTL had like 2 – 3 million viewers when it was cancelled, and Y&R gets like 4 million. And now she would kill for a fourth of those numbers! Granted I know network tv like nbc, cbs, and abc reach more viewers than cable, but still!

Oprah said that she would not pick up AMC & OLTL because their ratings had dropped to single digits. What are OWN’s ratings? Perhaps, she should follow her own advice and drop the whole OWN network. I am not so sure I’d have watched all of Oprah’s programming but I’d have at least followed my soaps of she had picked them up and I would have attempted to try some of the other programming. Once Oprah decided to let soaps die, I decided to boycott OWN. Sometimes, I forget it even exists until someone mentions it or I see it in passing on my guide. Oprah forgot that her audience was started by daytime fans who would watch soaps first and keep the tv on to catch her show. Soap fans helped to make Oprah popular. Oprah held the power with her show because her lead in was the soaps. Then, she gained a bigger audience and that was great but she had a double whammy occur. She left her show, out of sight out of mind, and she also ostracized her main fan base, the soap fans.

I think Oprah should, perhaps, rethink her decision about not picking up OLTL and AMC. I know I would have most definitely watched them on OWN and maybe even stayed tuned to some of the other shows, as well. I haven’t watched OWN since it’s debut and I have not tuned to ABC/Disney since OLTL went off. I DVR GH so that my television is never on ABC at all. Please Oprah, reconsider the soaps!!! I am sure your network viewership will increase by the millions!!!

I agree with everyone there. If she backed us up last year by saving our soaps, we would’ve done the same for her OWN channel. But it serves her right. Although the PP deal fell through, we’re down to four soaps–PP has a few months left to do something with the digital rights for AMC before it expires. There’s still plenty of time for OLTL though.

Why Oprah thought people where gonna watch all these stpid dime a dozen lifestyle and tlk shows shows me she’s not intelligent like she think she is.When you don’t have nything that brings the audiences back everyday with a cliffhanger like soaps who cares to come back everyday.Neilsen is so flawed and noone cares to do anything about it.We know millions are veiwing online and soapnet but they are not counted.ABC throwed the soaps away even with other countries veiwing them that they could have made billions off of.They put Anne Sweeney ahead of ABC programming and she hates the soaps.She has totally destroyed ABC.Iger sits back and does nothing about it.All anyone needs to do including Oprah is get the rights and make sure that all countries still can veiw for some are 4 years behind and make billions off soaps.ABC was making money there greed they just wanted less fuss and more money.Well ABC hows that working for you now.Micheal need to send these comments to Oprah.We will come with our soaps and Discovery needs to see how this could be a win win situation for there investment to.

After Oprah’s patronizing, crass, and insensitive response to HER fans in regards to the soaps, I really don’t care if OWN dies in a sea of red ink.

But let’s look at the facts. Oprah followed a successful ABC/Disney afternoon lineup: All My Children, One Life to Live, and General Hospital. As TV viewing habits changed with the introduction of mobile devices and online outlets, TV numbers declined for the soaps, and for the Oprah Winfrey Show. On cancellation of All My Children and One Life to Live appealed to Ms. Winfrey for help. Her response was, as I said, patronizing, crass, and insensitive. She didn’t question the HOW of Nielsen, either. Having insulted the soap fans who watched her out of habit after their soaps, few followed her to her new OWN network. Rather, they added the network to the boycott of ABC/Disney. Coupled with a dearth of interesting programming, this killed the network. Never underestimate the power of an angry soap fan.

Oprah turned her back on the soaps and the soap fans (her fans) turned their backs on Oprah. Oprah had her nose so far in the clouds that she forgot that soaps made her. Cable is expensive Oprah and people don’t buy it to watch you! In fact I will be dropping a tier in a couple of months and I won’t even see your network on my guide.

I hold no ill will toward Oprah, although her video message to fans about picking up the canceled ABC soaps seemed somewhat unnecessary and slightly condensending. When soaps were hot and her show counted on their viewers, she claimed to be a big fan, that I recall quite well. As much as I believe picking up the soaps would help her network, I think it might work out better for the fans if she doesn’t. OWN is not long for this world, and even if it were, it appears that she just doesn’t have a passion for soaps.

I believe Oprah’s network would have been very successful if she had brought AMC and OLTL on board. Perhaps, now, Oprah realizes she should have listened to the millions of soap fans who begged her to save their beloved soaps. She might not be in debt to the tune of $330 million if she had. As it is, I expect to hear that the Oprah Network will be shutting down quite soon.

Wow, all of us soap fans saw this coming when Oprah decided to kick us to the curb. She proclaimed to love AMC and OLTL, but snubbed her nose at them and said they were too expensive to produce. Who does she think supported her for 25 years? What a colossal mistake but maybe it’s not too late to turn it around…take a good long look at the soaps again Oprah!!!
I will never watch the perky one…Katie Couric.

Oprah had no obligations to save the soaps, this really shows how selfish and hypocritical people are. She was ok when she was giving away gifts and helping people turn their lives around with her talk show. People really do show their true colors….They care more about fictional characters then real people. Oprah I’m still a fan and I watch multiple shows on your network, keep bringing me more.

Your one of the few people that watch OWN and if Oprah really cared about her own network she would put on shows that people want to watch and fund it by herself instead and not have Discovery Communications to take most of the losses money wise.

Oprah doesn’t have any obligations to save the soaps I agree, But I dont think we are being selfish or hypocrites by wanting her to save our soaps and maybe save her network because what she is doing now isn’t working and she is loosing money. I never watched her show, but I know that the soaps were a good lead in for her for 25 years she should have treated the fans that did watch her show faithfully (not me ) with more respect then what she did. She didn’t have to put them on her network but she dam sure could have stood along side of the soap fans in helping us in finding a new home for the soaps. I dont’t know about you but the day abc/ disney canceled all my children and one life to live it broke my heart and its still broken, I don’t think she treated her fans very well and it shows now because the soap fans left her, And the fictional characters you are writing about are real people to, thousands of people lost their jobs because of the loss of the soaps being cancelled It affected the stars, people behind the scenes, the soap books, the people who deliver the food, flowers, I could go on but we are talking about a lot of REAL PEOPLE. Oprah is one person who I believe made a bad business move, To bad for her and to bad for us soap fans.

Oprah turned her back on One Life To Live and All My Children and look where it got her. Imagine what would happen if she tried to revive them… 3 million viewers were watching One Life To Live alone. I bet Oprah would like to have the viewers tuning in to her channel. Oprah has the power to make TV history and get lots of free publicity in the process. Just think outside the box and see what will happen… profits will follow.

If you go back to the announcement she made about our soaps, that everythings must come to an end well Oprah you are coming to an end. That no body is home to watch the soaps, well no one is home to watch you. I have absoulutely no simpathy for, the soap fans made her, we broke her,

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